Going to AFP? 10 sessions you can’t miss

This post originally appeared on NP HUB March 15, 2016 I’m packing my bags and counting down the days to AFP International in Boston!  I hope you’ll come say hi to me in one of my sessions:  “Relationship Fundraising” on Sunday at 12:30 with Adrian Sargeant and Jay Love or “Why Midlevel Donors are Sweeter than Christmas Morning” with Mark Rovner and Mohit Pramanik on Tuesday at 3:15.  We’ve got lots of free fundraising goodies waiting for you at the Pursuant booth 1216, so come say hi!

Spending 3 days getting inspired by fundraising thought leaders and seeing “best of” campaigns from around the world is like my own personal Christmas.  Last year’s AFP boasted a star studded keynote line up with Seth Godin, Whoopi Goldberg and Isabel Allende but my favorite session was “Everything You Know about Donor Decision Making is Wrong” by Alan Hutson and Bernard Ross.  Who am I most excited to see this year?  The list is long!  Enjoy my cheat sheet of can’t miss sessions in alphabetical order…

1. Tom Ahern

I am a mega fan of Tom Ahern (who isn’t?).  Even if you’ve already seen his Loverizing Your Donor before there’s new guaranteed pearls of wisdom every time.  This year he’s also doing a session on “Making Money on Facebook: Yes, it can be done.”

2. Roger Craver, Editor The Agitator

I’m a huge fan of Roger’s book, Retention Fundraising: The Art and Science of Keeping Your Donors for Life and excited for his session on “Rebels with Causes – Fundraising as a Driver of Social Change”.

3. NPExperts: Shanon Doolittle (Shanon Doolittle + Co.) & Mark Rovner (Sea Change Strategies)

Two of my all-time favorite humans TOGETHER in one session?  It’s like fundraising is throwing a party and everyone’s invited!  Shanon is pure fundraising joy and Mark is like the defense attorney for great donor experiences.  Ready to get inspired with great stewardship ideas and a renewed passion for fundraising?  Join them for “The Future of Fundraising NP Experts panel”.  You can also see Shanon as part of another dynamic duo with the incomparable Beth Ann Locke in their session “10 Habits of Highly Successful Fundraisers”.

4. Anne Melvin, Director of Training and Education at Harvard

Anne’s session “The Art and Science of Fundraising Persuasion” promises to show us how to apply social science principles to get donors to a yes.

5. Mark Rovner (Sea Change Strategies) & Mohit Pramanik, Save the Children Canada

I’m honored to get to partner with these two in “Why Midlevel Donors are Sweeter than Christmas Morning”.  Join us to get tools, insight and inspiration to launch a successful midlevel program.

6. Adrian Sargeant, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy

I’m honored to get to present with Adrian, Jay Love and Ian MacQuillin in Relationship Fundraising: Where do we go from here?  Join us to get critical insight into the donor journey and what strategies work best when!  You’ve got two more chances to see Adrian at this years AFP, in the Rebels, Renegades & Pioneer's Session: "You can't be truly a profession without academic research." Or is fundraising somehow the exception? and “You Can Raise Major Gifts at Your Small Shop: Research Proven Methods and Best Practices” with Amy Eisenstein and Jay Love.

7. Stephen Pidgeon

I love Stephen’s book Love Your Donors to Death and expect great things from his copy clinic “Be More Creative in Communication with Supporters”.

8. Bernard Ross and Alan Hutson

Last year these two knocked it out of the park in their standing room only session on behavioral economics and the great news is they are back in “Behavioral Economics: the Science of Fundraising Psychology”.  Catch Bernard in another session with Angela Cluff “Global Fundraising: 5 campaigns that will change your ideas.”

9. Stephen Shattuck

I am a huge fan of Stephen and expect session “The Art and Science of Retaining Digital Donors” will be a huge hit.

10. Gail Perry

Nonprofits struggling to get their board members fundraising can look forward to some hands on help in Gail’s session, “Teach Your Board Members to Open Doors to New Major Gifts Prospects”.

I hope to see you in Boston at one of my sessions or at the Pursuant booth, #1216.   Come say hi!

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Fundraisers

We have a brand new year in front of us.   A clean slate.  The chance to make it our best year ever.  Are you ready to say goodbye to what isn't working and supercharge your fundraising efforts to make it your most profitable year ever?  

1. Get clarity on where you can turn the greatest fundraising profit – retaining your current donors

The best source for your next gift comes from your last gift.  Not events.  Not even acquisition, although most people would probably say their strategy for raising more money in 2014 is by getting new donors.  Every year the Fundraising Effectiveness Project gives us more bad news on donor attrition.  The money we make from new donors barely covers the donors we lost.  We make a profit in fundraising three ways: 1) extending donor loyalty 2) increasingly generous giving and 3) realizing higher gift values sooner.  Follow steps 2-5 to achieve these profit drivers.

2.  Evaluate your portfolio of donors

Occasionally clients hire me to searches for them and I am always surprised by the number of major gift officers I interview who boast about portfolios of 300 – 500 donors.  One major gift officer working full time cannot possible manage 500 donors, there is not enough time in the day.  While all donors deserve meaningful thank you’s, touches and updates you have to invest the time in understanding which donors want to have a deeper closer relationship with a major gift officer.  Typically 30% will, which means you have to get to know your donors and their interests, capacity, and communications preferences to determine if they belong in your major gift portfolio.  Roll out the red carpet to your donors this year! Call on them to formally introduce your role as their representative who lets them know how their giving is making an impact.  Find out why they are giving and what they are passionate about.  You’ll gleam critical data to determine what donors should be on your portfolio.   Once you know who should be on your caseload you are ready for step #3…

3.  Set a revenue goal and cultivation plan for every donor on your caseload

Lewis Carroll said “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”  If you don’t have a revenue goal and a plan for each donor you’re working in the dark.  You are also not alone, according to a recent donor retention study by Sage, now Abila, a whopping 69% of nonprofits lack a formal strategy for managing donor loyalty.  Now that you know which donors want to have a relationship with you and more about their interests and capacity you can apply your relationship fundraising goals to a calendar with dates for each touches and your ask.

4.  Thank meaningfully, early and often

Properly thanking your donor by being prompt and meaningful determines if that donor will give again.  With 8 out of 10 donors not making a second gift, don’t underestimate everything that is riding on your thank you.  A good thank you sets up the next gift!  Knock it out of the park with some of these fantastic tips on crafting a killer thank you letter from Gail Perry.  Thank within 48 hours, make it personal, have a board member call to say thanks, and always make the donor the hero of the story.  Congratulate them on what THEY will make happen because of THEIR generosity.

5.  Manage up

I talk to a lot of frustrated development directors.  They may feel unsupported because their CEO or board, or worse, both are not engaged in fundraising.  Several complain their CEO or board approving a budget that includes a blanket increase in funding without a strategy or additional investment in resources.  Discussing these issues with leadership requires delicacy and diplomacy but it’s critical that development directors confidently make the case to their CEO to invest in a donor centered strategy and maintain realistic expectations.

Your clean slate is waiting, time to get on your way!

Happy New Year,

Rachel

How to Make Your Donors Feel like Heroes

 This blog post originally appeared November 20th, 2013 on Bloomerang.   As we approach the peak of end of year fundraising and the beginning of a new year I encourage you to take a short break to call your major gift donors and congratulate them on how they are making an impact.  If you are doing a double take its true, I did not say call them to say thank you!  I said call and congratulate your donors on how they are making an impact.  Your donors made a difference, let them know!  Your donors are the hero of your story.  Tell them how their giving has made an impact.  Schedule a power hour of calls on your calendar and start dialing.  You will likely get voice mails but be surprised how quickly it takes and what a meaningful impact it can have on end of year giving and donor retention.

As fundraisers it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.  We never have enough time to tackle everything on our task list (and I just heaped yet another thing to it).  The fundraising options around us are positively dizzying.  In the midst of juggling everything we’re doing to raise money I invite you to take a moment to get clarity around what inspires donors to give.

First and foremost to secure any major gift you have to understand your donor’s interests.  You must know what they are passionate about. Giving is about the giver, not about the organization or the cause. The organization is the conduit through which donors live their interests and aspirations.  You should know your major donors passions and interests – if you don’t ask them!  Call them and let them know you want to get better acquainted with them as a part of serving their needs and letting them know how they are making an impact.  This is a critical step in portfolio assessment that allows you to determine how to best focus your energy on donors who want to have a deeper relationship with you and maximize your major gift giving.

Let’s assume you’ve taken that step and know what they care about.  Donors want to feel like their gift can make a difference.  Describing a litany of needs on behalf of your organization or the unquenchable challenges of population you serve can make a donor can feel overwhelmed.  They can feel like their gift won’t matter and worse, like the problem may not be solvable.  Give them a bold creative clear cut solution to an issue they cared about and detail the positive outcomes of the change they will bring about.  It’s easier to wrap your hands around a dream with a clear solution.  A laundry list of needs and feel defeating and overwhelming quickly.

Did you notice I said the change they will bring about?  Major gifts and planned gifts are about making your dream their dream.  It is not about you or your needs.  It’s about them – your job is to help them do good.